Newfound Freedom

Finally mobile and it feels so good.

In the total whirlwind that was my trip back to Bozeman I managed to squeeze in a little car shopping in between wedding party duties. And wouldn't you know it, I just happened upon pretty much the perfect car. Getting new tires put on didn't put it out of my price range, so I'm now equipped with awesome all weather tires that handle amazingly in the snow. 3rd row seating and the eventual purchase of a roof ski rack means I can be the ski shuttle for my friends who lugged me around all this winter. Stoked.

My first and only car before this was a 17th birthday present from my parents. It was a 1996 explore with 213K miles on it when it was passed on to me. Forrest green with leather interiors, it had been the primary method of transport for all outdoorsy things (camping, skiing, etc.) growing up and it held a ton of memories for me and my parents. It seemed like it had died a few months before I got my license; on a trip to Sun Valley the transmission had given out and would only allow the car to drive in first or reverse. Getting it back to Bozeman was slow going and then it just sat there. Unbeknownst to me my parents had talked to a local transmission specialist (Mike's Transmissions, you guys rock) and somehow got it fully functional for $400. Happy birthday to me!

That car served me up until I moved to UT. At that point it had some electrical issues, possibly a result of the deer I'd struck the previous fall, and it was past the 250K mark. It still ran like a champ, but I was afraid that the first time up the Avenues in the summer would leave it dead in its tracks. After weighing the pros and cons I decided to forgo a car, sell the one I had, and buy new skis and a pass to Snowbird, a decision I do not regret in the least. Not having a car in SLC is possible, but inconvenient. For a girl like me, one who's used to complete freedom, to not depending on others, and to being able to get away from everyone and everything, not having a car of my own was starting to wear on me.

Certain interpersonal dramas then left me completely stranded (minus the bus or the power of my own legs; I've gotten very good at walking since moving here carless) and I decided I'd been without wheels for long enough; it was time for the car hunt to begin. With a very low budget and a need for a 4WD or AWD vehicle I set out on what ended up being a frustratingly long car hunt. I fought my bank over getting my loan (being a grad student made proving my income tricky) and then started to learn how to negotiate cars. I looked online, went to dealers, but wasn't having any luck. I'd forgotten about sales tax (MT doesn't have any) and that brought down my max car price, which effectively bumped me out of the range of the vehicle I wanted. I decided to look at online listings in Bozeman and thought I'd found one, an awesome yellow Ford Explorer. The paperwork was drafted and everything, but unfortunately there was a transmission issue that would have made it too expensive. Not going to lie, I cried a bit at that point.

After losing faith in KSL listings because of a scam I'd stumbled upon I kind of lost hope. Talking with my dad we decided to go drive around Bozeman while I was back; I looked online at the dealerships and found a couple that fit the bill so we headed out to test drive them. After all the searching, all the research, and all the frustration we ended up finding my car in a used car dealership based out of the old bowling alley near my house. The people were awesome, the price was right, and there was even a limited warranty. In the span of 3 days I had my car with brand new tires registered. It was a truly serendipitous thing. Two days ago I gave it the real test by driving it 6 hours south back here to Salt Lake; it handled like a champ and got me better gas mileage than I expected.

So why am I telling you this long and fairly boring story about buying a car? Because it was a huge adventure to me; I went into this fairly blind and ended up learning on the spot how you go about buying a car. I got into debt for the first time in my life, even after tons of people told me buying a car was a bad idea. 'Why pay for one when you don't need to?' they asked me. I gave them the same answer I give for most things I do: to ski. I wanted a ski vehicle and the 2003 Eddie Bauer Explorer I got is perfect for that. Camping vehicle? Check. Going climbing? Just want to get out of the city? Check and check. I'm not going to drive every day, and I'll probably end up keeping it parked most weeks, but it represents one very very important thing to me: freedom. I hadn't realized how trapped I was feeling until I got my freedom back. So if anyone in Salt Lake sees a black explorer with Montana plates and Moonlight Basin stickers driving around, that's me, being free, heading off to search for the steeper side. Maybe sometime you can come along for the ride.